Economic Overviews

“The sense that you have in Europe is that the European political union and the European economic union are faced with some real dislocations. That isn’t to say that it necessarily won’t survive, but certainly from the point of view of the private wealth in Europe, the money managers for those families are quite concerned.... and quite frankly, they have good reason to be concerned.... we have the very real possibility of experiencing a psychotic break in the markets, such as we experienced in 2008."

“The sense that you have in Europe is that the European political union and the European economic union are faced with some real dislocations. That isn’t to say that it necessarily won’t survive, but certainly from the point of view of the private wealth in Europe, the money managers for those families are quite concerned.... and quite frankly, they have good reason to be concerned.... we have the very real possibility of experiencing a psychotic break in the markets, such as we experienced in 2008."

I've often been labeled as "Gloom and Doom" in the past, but the situation in Europe today is beyond anything I've ever seen before. It is highly likely that the EU will not exist in their current form by the end of the year. I realize some of this may sound overly dramatic but the following should give you an idea of how serious things are getting: [Words: 715]

The 15 countries that we project to grow the slowest over 2013-14 include, not surprisingly, dysfunctional countries with weak leadership and debt-laden countries with limited financial flexibility, but also developed countries that are just too big to grow quickly. [Here they are hyperlinked to a page of information on each country.]

Financial markets have largely been focused on Europe's debt crisis, the looming fiscal cliff in the U.S., and the deceleration of the Chinese economy but there are at least 14 other global geo-political risks that investors need to watch for. [The list is below.] Words: 415

Nothing explains the world more elegantly than a map and, in that spirit, we've compiled the 15 most excellent, unusual, and just cool maps that we've recently come across. They cover all the bases: economics, politics, culture, immigration...and some fun stuff too. Take a look. Words: 345

Europe is heading into a full-scale disaster [because,] you see, the debt problems in Europe are not simply related to Greece. They are SYSTEMIC. The European banking system's leverage levels alone position Europe for a full-scale banking collapse on par with Lehman Brothers. Again, I'm talking about Europe's ENTIRE banking system collapsing. This is not a question of "if," it is a question of "when" and it will very likely happen before the end of 2012. Words: 750

"Regardless of whether or not you feel taxes need to be raised, a big set of tax hikes is scheduled to happen. To be sure, some of those hikes will be undone in compromises, but many if not most will sneak through." [Let me explain.]

An op-ed has just been published in the New York Times suggesting that the best way to save the euro is for Germany to exit the European Union and re-introduce it former currency, the Deutsche mark. [Here is the rationale.] Words: 310

Why read: It is foolish not to consider the possibility of depression, particularly in the face of the preponderance of commentary over the past many months that rampant inflation is on the horizon. [Here I review, analyze and comment on one such article on that possibility.] Words: 697